backgrnd

Feb 28, 2011

"Don't be a stingy little mama
You're 'bout to starve me half to death
Well you can spare a kiss or two and
Still have plenty left..."
I've had Elvis in my head for the last four days. Its true. Ive been annoying everyone including myself with my incessant singing of a Big Hunk of Love. To make matters worse, I have never been an Elvis fan per Se.(My general dislike might stem from the fact that my the only time I was ever in Memphis I couldn't afford to visit Graceland...) Regardless, the king was on my mind when I was thinking about what I would make for this months Dessert Wars Challenge. Last month I really brought it with my challenge so I knew this month I needed to come up with something to top homemade Nutella. I brainstormed all month practically and even made a dessert that while was delicious was about as unappealing as well.. a big hunk of love. (BTW, screw you heart inside cupcakes, screw you!). What I came up with was a mouth full of...love. I might even say it got me all shook up. If I was going to go farther I would say it had me throwing on my blue suede shoes and walking my hound dog and dancing to the jail house rock. (Did you have any doubt I was going to go farther?)
Without further adieu:

Dark Chocolate Meringue Hearts
6 egg whites, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup dark cocoa powder
Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the egg whites in the cleaned bowl, beat at high speed until stiff. This process with take almost 8 minutes. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat. Slowly add the sugar. Remove the beaters and fold in the cocoa powder using a rubber spatula.
Using a piping bag pipe hearts onto the lined tray. Bake on the middle shelf for one hour and then turn off the oven and DON'T open the door for an hour! (DON'T DO IT, even though I know you want to!)Did you really think I would stop there?

Dark Chocolate Meringue Hearts with Caramelized Vanilla Bananas, marshmallow fluff , Dark chocolate syrup and Peanut brittle also known as " the Elvis."
Each bite of this was a little bit of heaven. Seriously. The meringue and the brittle added a bit of crunch to break up the sweet soft texture of the bananas and the fluff and each bite honestly seemed to melt on our mouth.Caramelized Vanilla Bananas
3 tablespoons sweet unsalted butter
2 bananas, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon of vanilla
1/2 cup light rum
Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add bananas and saute until they turn brown, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle brown sugar and vanilla over the bananas and cook until the sugar melts, about another 3 minutes. Remove from heat and pour rum into skillet; ignite with a match and let the flames die out pour into meringues and top with a bit of marshmallow fluff, dark chocolate sauce and homemade peanut brittle.
Thanks again to the wonderful hosts Reeni and Momma Cupcake!
Please see below for the wonderful list of prizes!
p.s. Do you think next month we could have a challenge of something that isn't brown? Taking pictures of brown things sucks my will to live!!!!

I must of heard your cry for something not brown through E.S.P. lol. Cuz we got a Green Theme this month! Thank you for entering darlin! I love me some brittle..and chocolate..and marshmallow..pretty much the whole thing you made :).